


falling apart to half-time

by shoutz



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21840586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoutz/pseuds/shoutz
Summary: In which Felix learns that absence makes the heart grow much, much fonder.“Weird seeing him again, huh?” Sylvain says with a half-grin on his face. “It’s been so long. I’m surprised he showed up.”Felix lifts a shoulder in a shrug, still watching Dimitri. “Can’t mourn forever.”Sylvain ignores his sour tone, ribbing him gently. “Come on, lighten up! Everyone’s together again, just like when we were kids. It’ll be fun!”“Hmph,” is the only noise Felix makes in response. They had been best friends once, that much is true, and Felix and Dimitri had been perhaps the closest of all of them. But that was before the crash. Before Dimitri broke.Before Felix removed himself entirely.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55
Collections: 2019 Dimilix Holiday Exchange





	falling apart to half-time

**Author's Note:**

> this was my gift to Tai as part of the Dimilix Holiday Exchange!!! this prompt was a blast to write and i hope you enjoy! big love and happy holidays!
> 
> Songs included in order:  
> [Yule Shoot Your Eye Out - Fall Out Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW3X7-gk8q0)  
> [Far From Home (The Raven) - Sam Tinnesz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y4Sz8_Oq1M)  
> [Wish You Were Here - Neck Deep](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyPwEZTIpVc)

“Wrong. Again.”

The tune trips and fumbles to a halt. Sylvain lets out a sigh, letting his guitar sag.

“Give me a break! It’s hard to sing and play at the same time!”

“Annette, sing the key change for him.”

Annette whips her head around from her place next to Mercedes. The look on her face almost comical in its shock. “Me? Why me?!”

“You’ve been humming it perfectly every time we’ve run the song. Show him.”

“You heard that?!” Her cheeks burn a bright pink. She’s quick to busy herself with the various snack foods they had set out for practice, rearranging them to keep her hands moving. “Uh, no thanks! I’m good!”

“If it’s so easy, why don’t you do it?” Sylvain asks, grinning. A challenge, then.

Felix shoots Sylvain his most deadpan stare. “I’ve been singing. Literally every time we do this song I sing the harmony.” He hoists his acoustic guitar up higher on his lap, sets his fingers at the proper positions. “But fine. If you wish. You still have to play. Ashe, sing the harmony for me. Dedue, count us in.”

He nods, and taps out eight steady beats on his drum. Sylvain picks up the guitar melody on cue, and Felix joins with the rhythm soon after, a quick progression that he had easily memorized by now. A few bars pass without incident, and Felix begins singing.

He notices his B string leaning slightly towards flat, something he can fix later. Ashe’s voice is well-suited for harmonies, blending well with Felix’s as it maintains pitch, but his posture makes his lungs lack sufficient support. Sylvain’s rhythm starts slowing down minutely, small enough of a change that it doesn’t affect much, but it still registers as an annoyance and something they need to work on. _The subtleties of music are what give it character_ , Sylvain had always said in response to Felix’s nit-picking. He couldn’t help his finely-tuned ear, nor his desire for perfection.

“ _And I’m of good cheer, ‘cause I’ve been checking my list, and the gifts you’re receiving from me will be…_ ”

Annette’s faint humming finds its way to Felix’s ears as he plays and sings. They all had wanted her on vocals for the band at its inception; ever since Felix first heard her in the back room before practice, he had known she was good, but stage fright always held her back. Felix could never bring himself to sing, either; being a vocalist comes with a certain vulnerability that he never found himself craving. Ashe usually hides behind his keyboard and opts to sing harmony when there’s more than two parts, and Dedue rarely speaks, let alone sings. Sylvain agreed to sing but still struggled with keeping up with both vocals and playing guitar. It hadn’t been until recently that Ingrid had suggested they recruit a new singer, much to Sylvain’s enthusiasm.

Speak of the devil and she shall come. The door opens behind him, and two sets of footsteps enter the room. It doesn’t phase him, barely registers in his mind as he focuses on the music. They transition into the bridge smoothly enough, Felix keeping the steady rhythm while Sylvain plucks out the faster notes. He usually plays this part quite well, but forgets the vocal key change into the final chorus, hence their spat and Felix’s singing. He doesn’t usually sing any of their songs, and when he does, it’s in harmony with Ashe beneath Sylvain’s prouder tones; he finds it more pleasing to write the words and hear someone else do them justice.

But of course, he also isn’t one to ignore a called bluff.

Felix shoots Sylvain a pointed look as they transition into the final chorus, singing louder to show him the key change.

“ _Don’t come home for Christmas, you’re the last thing I wanna see underneath the tree…_ ”

They repeat the chorus for the final time and finish the song with little fanfare. Annette claps and Mercedes joins her, while Felix tries not to let his cheeks heat up at the praise. 

“I told you, it’s not hard,” Felix says as he stows the guitar in favor of his bass, preparing for a proper practice, “You just obsess over the bridge.”

“Everyone!” Ingrid’s voice calls out from near the door, pulling them all to attention. It seems he had been right to assume the footsteps belonged to her. Felix almost wonders who the other steps had been, until he sees.

Dimitri, tall and proud Dimitri Blaiddyd in the flesh, stands beside her. Gobsmacked, cheeks red, he nearly jumps when Felix turns to face them. Felix feels his blood start to boil, and has to resist the urge to leave the room in a huff. Instead, their eyes find each other. Felix doesn’t necessarily want to acknowledge him but he feels drawn by instinct, like staring at the remains of a car crash. It's apt. Dimitri seems unsurprised with the anger he sees in Felix, but offers him a small smile regardless.

It doesn’t do _anything_ to Felix. He doesn’t _let_ it do anything. He clamps down on his emotions, and ignores the warmth threatening to spread out from his chest to the rest of him at the sight of his old friend, hale and whole and smiling after so long.

“As you all are aware, we need a new singer. I know things were hard on Dimitri after…everything that happened. But he’s agreed to at least consider joining us as our primary vocalist,” Ingrid says, tiptoeing around the subject as if too much lingering will scare Dimitri away and ruin their chances at a decent addition to the group. “I hope none of you mind that I invited him to today’s rehearsal unannounced.”

The scowl on Felix’s face deepens, somehow, and he looks away from both Dimitri and Ingrid.

Almost four years ago, Dimitri had been part of a different band entirely, fronted by Felix’s older brother Glenn. It was what inspired Felix to start his own band in the first place, cobbled together from old friends and acquaintances that Felix knew could carry a tune. But their band couldn’t hold a candle to Glenn’s, after their years upon years of practice and comradery.

Until a tour bus crash took the lives of all on board. All except Dimitri.

In one night, one horrible, gruesome accident, Felix’s family shattered. His venerable older brother, the light of their father’s life, gone from this world in an instant. All the music he had yet to play, all the life he had left to live… Gone. They say he had helped Dimitri escape the wreckage somehow, but they would never know; he died before paramedics had even arrived on the scene.

Felix's relentless drive for perfection could probably trace its roots to that incident, if he looked at it hard enough. With Glenn’s music gone from the world, a void was left in its wake, a void Felix meant to fill with his own sound. Perhaps then his father would stop grieving and care for the child who yet lives.

This is the first time many of them have seen Dimitri since the funeral. Ashe maintained contact as best he could, and Dedue had always fostered a keen understanding of his old friend. He doesn’t doubt that the two of them convinced him to consider joining alongside Ingrid.

The entire incident left a sour taste in Felix’s mouth, and a bitterness that nestled deep within his heart. The glorification of Glenn’s death, even by his own father, left Felix bereft. He was a semi-public figure, sure, but people had such an insistence on being optimistic about his death that a cold, painful anger festered within Felix, one that follows him to this day. How could they possibly say Glenn is in a better place? How could they tell someone who so thoroughly idolized a person that that person’s death was somehow a _good_ thing?

And worst of all was Dimitri, his best friend who shattered beneath the tragedy. His was such a profound sorrow that Felix couldn’t possibly handle alongside his own. Witnessing such raw anguish, the survivor's guilt, the gruesome details he had been forced to see… That, among other things, was probably what drove them apart. 

But now, by some miracle, Dimitri seems to be well enough to consider joining a new band. One comprised of old friends he hasn't seen since the tragedy that drove him away from music entirely.

Ashe speaks up, pulling Felix from his thoughts. “It’s no problem at all! We’re happy to have you,” he says, voice sickeningly cheerful.

“Welcome back, Dimitri,” Mercedes comments. Annette gets up from next to her to greet Dimitri. She goes in for a hug, at first, but seems to think better of it and settles instead for a wave, not yet sure how comfortable he is.

Dimitri, to his credit, looks like someone being reintroduced to a room of people he hasn’t spoken to in four years. The discomfort and uncertainty make him hesitant to speak, but eventually he clears his throat.

“Thank you all for having me. I’ve been wanting to return to music after everything happened, and it means a lot to be accepted like this,” he says. The others seem to take his words at face value, but Felix remains unconvinced.

“Can you sing?” he asks, apropos of nothing. The others seem taken aback, though it’s a valid question. “You only sang backup vocals in Glenn’s band. If you’re going to be our main vocalist, you’ll need to be better than that.”

It takes a moment for Dimitri to realize he’s been asked a question. “Yes, o-of course.” He clears his throat again, clearly nervous. “If you’d like, I’ve… I’ve been working on a song, with Ashe’s help. To see if my voice would work well with you all.”

“Of course!” Mercedes says, calm encouragement in her soft tone, “We would love to hear it.”

Most everyone nods and murmurs their assent — all but Felix, content to hold his tongue until he’s actually heard the man sing.

Ingrid steps back and sits with the others, while Ashe tests out a few chords and keyboard settings. Dimitri walks over to Dedue and speaks to him in a hushed tone, and Sylvain takes a seat next to Felix.

“Weird seeing him again, huh?” he says with a half-grin on his face. “It’s been so long. I’m surprised he showed up.”

Felix lifts a shoulder in a shrug, still watching Dimitri. “Can’t mourn forever.”

Sylvain ignores his sour tone, jostling his shoulder. “Come on, lighten up! Everyone’s together again, just like when we were kids. It’ll be fun!”

“Hmph,” is the only noise Felix makes in response. They had been best friends once, that much is true, and Felix and Dimitri had been perhaps the closest of all of them. But that was before the crash. Before Dimitri broke.

Before Felix removed himself entirely.

Ashe plays a few slow chords, and the chatter fades to nothing. All eyes turn to Dimitri, standing by the keyboard and staring into the middle distance.

_“I’m sending a raven, black bird in the sky, sending the signal that I’m here, some sign of life…”_

Felix really doesn’t know what to expect when he opens his mouth, but it’s certainly not _that_. Dimitri’s tone is low and rich and rolls directly through his chest, a wave of sound that fills the room with ease. Felix suddenly wishes they were in a cathedral, somewhere with high ceilings and boundless acoustics, if only because it would do his voice the justice it deserves. Ashe’s keyboard fills the spaces between his notes that give his voice an ethereal quality, lifting it from beneath, interrupted only by a single high note every few measures. It’s a beautiful song, even if Dimitri hadn’t been the one singing it. But he is, and that fact just makes the song all the more devastating.

Felix clenches his jaw, and does _not_ react.

A steady drum beat from Dedue creeps beneath the piano, and Dimitri rocks back and forth to keep time with it as he sings. Ashe joins with a vocal harmony, but everyone’s attention remains pinned to Dimitri as he dictates the low notes of the chorus, chest voice rich in a way Felix only wishes he could match.

_“‘Cause out here in the darkness, and out of the light, if you get to me too late, just know that I tried…”_

The raw emotion in his voice is yet another thing for which Felix is woefully unprepared. The vocal fry on the higher, more powerful notes hits him in places he didn’t even know he was vulnerable, and the heartache that had buried itself deep makes itself painfully and urgently known, inch by inch.

But even beyond the sound of the music, even beyond the qualities Felix only wishes he could nitpick into oblivion, Dimitri sings like he’s shattering. He sings like he’s showing them an open wound, begging for someone to make him whole again.

He sings like his heart is broken. And that, above all, pulls at the one feeble thread holding Felix together.

Ashe plays the bridge next, and Dimitri glances at Felix for one fleeting second while he isn’t singing. Felix doesn’t know what the look on his face could possibly mean, and knows even less of what could be going through Dimitri’s head. The piano builds the tension and sound with a crescendo beneath Dimitri when he looks away and joins back in.

The song culminates in a cathartic final chorus, in which all the power he’s been holding in his chest bursts forth. It hurts in a way the others didn’t before, uninhibited now that the nerves have finally disappeared and he has immersed himself in the music.

The last low chord fades and the room lets out a collective breath, parsing through the performance in a few slow seconds. It only takes a moment for the band to erupt in applause.

All but Felix, who _seethes_.

How dare Dimitri tear down the walls he had so painstakingly built? How dare he waltz into Felix’s one safe place and make a mockery of all the progress he’s made in getting over it, over _him?_ How dare he unearth feelings that Felix had tried for so long to suppress?

The others praise him for his performance, as they rightfully should. It was by all accounts incredible, easily cementing him as their new vocalist. They’re ever complementary, even as Felix stands and walks out of the room.

He doesn’t slam the door shut, but the temptation is absolutely there. Sylvain says something in his direction before the door closes, probably stands and starts to walk towards him as well, but all the noise from that room disappears once the door is closed.

Everything but the song still ringing through Felix’s head.

A powerful ballad about the pain and loneliness of depression. A handful of minutes filled with a piano, a steady beat, and the voice of the man who will apparently haunt Felix until his final day. He hates how little control he has over the effect it has on him.

He hates that he really isn’t as over his feelings as he thought.

It takes almost a week for him to reach out to Sylvain again, after that. Several days of radio silence serve as a response to a slew of texts and calls from him, Ingrid, and their group chat which stores the only instance of Dimitri’s unsaved number in his phone. 

The days are spent in somewhat of a haze, between long practice sessions drilling chord progressions and long drives accompanied by his most shameful playlist. He doesn’t sleep much, and when he does it’s restless and only serves to further exhaust him. Most of that time is spent in the hopes that Dimitri will leave his mind, that the feelings that came crashing back in full force will disappear with enough brooding and pretending they don’t exist, but it’s not nearly that simple.

He can’t fully stop himself from thinking about what he might have said if Dimitri had followed him out of practice. Fabricated arguments float through his head, filled with _you don’t understand_ and _you can’t just come back like this_ and the ever-present _I left so you couldn't break my heart but you broke it anyway._ But none of it soothes the itch beneath his skin, the discomfort of stewing in his emotions so thoroughly.

And really, what _could_ he say? What words exist to bring clarity to the stew of emotions roiling within him? He’s not sure he could articulate his feelings if he tried, especially not to Dimitri. So much pent up anger from Glenn’s death and all that followed, old and forgotten enough that laying it out for someone to bear witness is almost unthinkable. But he knows with stark clarity that self-isolation isn’t the answer, either. It was the reason they had started the band in the first place, other than Felix’s aching fingers eager to strum chords and make music where once there was silence. It was a coping mechanism.

So finally, after the tenth repeat of his scales in the space of half an hour, hands aching from the strain and longing for a break, Felix decides it’s time.

_are you guys practicing tomorrow_

Sylvain calls him within fifteen seconds of that message being sent. And again, once he declines the call, and then once more for good measure. Felix huffs a sigh and declines them all, until Sylvain finally gives up and starts a slew of sending frantic texts in all capital letters.

_WHAT_

_YEHA_

_YES_

_YEAH_

_??????_

_ARE U_

_IS THAT_

Felix sets his phone down and rubs his eyes, relishing in the stars behind his eyelids, trying his hardest not to back out.

But, Felix is nothing if not a man of his word.

_just give me a time. i’ll be there._

Which is how Felix finds himself outside their usual practice space, fifteen minutes late with as many missed calls from both Sylvain and Ingrid. The wind picks up and he huddles further down into his coat, wishing he had kept his hair down to protect his ears somewhat from the chill. Every passing second serves only to make him further debate the pros and cons of going home.

He doesn't have a chance to make a decision. The door opens, and on the other side stands Dimitri.

Felix tries hard not to scowl.

"Hey," he says, nervous energy radiating from him in waves. “I… It’s good to see you. We didn't get the chance to talk, before… It’s been a really long time.”

“It has.” Felix responds, ignoring the warmth rushing to his cheeks. He tells himself it’s from the heat inside, and not his own Dimitri-shaped soft spot.

“I’m sorry about… about everything, I—”

Felix holds a hand up, feeling his patience wear thin. Not only does Dimitri have nothing to apologize for, but the cold creeps further into Felix’s coat with every passing second. There are better places for a reunion. Places with heat. “I’m not here to listen to your sob story. I came to practice. With my band.”

Dimitri balks for a moment, speechless, but his surprise eventually melts into a warm smile, colored with a tinge of embarrassment, slightly nervous. He steps out of the way and gestures inside as he says, “Right— Of course! After you.”

He walks inside and back to their practice space, but Dimitri stops him with a hand on his arm before he can make it the rest of the way inside.

“Here,” he says, holding out a folded piece of paper, “we started working on a song while you were out. I, uh… I wrote up the tabs, so you can practice it with us.”

Felix takes the paper and opens it, skimming over the notes penned in a neat, careful hand. There’s no song name to speak of, but the progression seems simple enough.

“It’s not very complex, I know you’ll pick it up in no time. The song doesn’t have bass, i-it’s more of a chord warm up for piano and guitar. Sylvain’s been playing it, but you two can play it as a duet, there's a bit of a descant. It’s a good vocal exercise, too. We used to…” Dimitri seems to realize he’s rambling, and trails off. Felix looks away from the paper and up at him expectantly.

The silence stretches between them. There’s something in Dimitri’s eyes that Felix doesn’t want to see, that Felix _refuses_ to see out of fear of what it might mean. Though, in truth, he knows it for what it is: fondness. Or perhaps, something stronger.

Instead of dwelling on it, he turns and walks towards their practice space. It takes only a few hesitant seconds before he hears Dimitri’s footsteps follow behind him.

The door creaks open to reveal his friends all sitting around idly, either practicing their instruments or looking at their phones or chatting. It all stops when the door opens, though, and they all look towards him.

“Felix!” Annette is the first to jump up and run for a hug, which Felix accepts knowing full well that she can’t possibly be denied.

“You didn’t answer any of my calls, man, what’s the deal?” Sylvain asks, waving his phone in the air.

Felix rolls his eyes and walks the rest of the way into the room, shedding his coat and setting his things in the corner. “I said I would be here. Isn’t that enough?”

“It’s not that we didn’t believe you!” Annette says, “Just, uh… We didn’t know!”

“We’re glad to have you back, Felix,” Ingrid says. Mercedes, Ashe, and Dedue all nod in agreement.

“Whatever. I’m here. Are we going to keep sitting around and talking about me or can we actually practice?”

As an answer, Sylvain holds up one of their acoustic guitars and pats the chair next to him. Felix crosses the room and sits in it, setting the paper in front of him on a music stand. He strums through the progression once without any rhythm to speak of, just to get a feel for it, while Dimitri sets up behind his own music stand.

“Dedue?” Dimitri asks, and without further discussion Dedue begins to count them in with a few drum beats.

They play out the beginning chords in unison, a few bars of the base progression, a melancholic melody that moves through Felix, pulling him along.

It’s not enough to prepare him for Dimitri, though.

_“Take it slow, tell me all how you’ve grown, just for me can we all reminisce?_

_Better yet, here’s a pen, make a list, fill it full of all the things I’ve missed.”_

Felix feels his chest tighten and there’s an urge to look up at him, but he pushes past it all in favor of making it through the song without embarrassing himself. Ashe joins in on the second half of the first verse, a simple melody that floats just beneath Dimitri’s voice while Sylvain and Felix continue playing. He doesn’t hear Annette’s humming like he usually does, which can perhaps speak to the tension in the room around them. The others watch with bated breath, nearly silent, and Felix doesn’t quite know what to make of it.

Sylvain sings alongside Dimitri’s chorus, swaying slightly with the rhythm they keep. Their voices mix well, and Sylvain’s voice is surprisingly well-suited for a harmony. It seems adding Dimitri was just what they needed after all.

_“Don’t say everything’s meant to be, ‘cause you know it’s not what I believe._

_Can’t help but think that it should have been me,_

_Either way, I still wish you were here.”_

Felix, despite his best efforts, fumbles the transition into the second chorus. It doesn’t help that Sylvain diverts to play a higher line on his own, leaving Felix to his shame as he tries to recover. Sylvain goes back to playing the main rhythm eventually, though the damage has been done. He feels Dimitri’s eyes burn into him but he refuses to look up, to acknowledge what Dimitri does to him.

It seems no matter how he tries, he isn't as immune to emotion as he had thought.

The second verse picks up, and eventually Sylvain and Dimitri start trading lines. The lyrics are far too on the nose and Felix feels his eyes prick, but the pain that resurfaces is old and dulled by time. Hearing the words from Dimitri himself is different, though, a hurt he had considered but not known with such clarity until he heard the words sung like they were Dimitri’s last.

They plunge into the second chorus and Felix is slightly more prepared, both for the content of the lyrics and Sylvian’s diversion into the bridge. It hits him hard, though, unrelenting in its emotional impact even when he’s expecting it. He’s always appreciated music’s ability to prod at emotional vulnerabilities in a way that soothes more than aches, but it’s been so long since he’s been on the receiving end of such an onslaught.

The bridge slows down considerably, a quiet transitional moment. Felix finds himself unable to resist the urge to look up, meeting Dimitri’s eyes for the first time since they entered their practice space. The emotion he sees there is raw, but complete, an unbound fondness that takes Felix aback.

Is it really that simple?

In that span of time, Felix forgets to strum the chords, leaving the rest of the transition to Sylvain, but he has enough awareness to play the ending chorus to completion. Dimitri, Sylvain, and Ashe all sing the final few words in a harmony that blends better than they could have imagined. And then, the only thing filling the room is the final fading chords covering a heavy, expectant silence.

Felix, however, hasn’t quite been able to look away from Dimitri, who graces him with the same attention in a way that suggests he’s loathe to do much else. His shoulders rise and fall with his breaths, slightly strained with the effort of having sung so fully, so emotionally.

The music fades to dead air. Dimitri’s lips turn up, a soft smile made of light and warmth, the antithesis of the cold silence that has kept the two of them apart for the last few years. The cold disregard Felix had harbored, keeping him and his emotions and his closure at arm’s distance and then some.

Felix finds his defenses crumbled in the face of it.

He can sense the gazes of the others pinned to his back, waiting for his anger or his denial or a fight. Not even he expects the tears as they fall.

“You…” Felix starts, but the thought sputters and dies on his tongue. Dimitri crosses the room to stand almost a foot in front of him, looking down with some unfathomable emotion in his eyes.

If Felix were more of a fool, more desperate than he already is, he’d call it love.

“I know… I know there’s no excuse. You needed me but I was too busy isolating myself to realize what it was doing to you.”

Felix shakes his head, rubbing at his cheek. “Idiot. I wasn’t upset that you left.” Dimitri’s expression changes, and before he can open his mouth and ask for an explanation, Felix provides one. “I knew what the grief did to you. I knew what it did to _me_. I just… I thought I was over it all. I wanted to believe I had control of it. That I could handle it on my own. It wasn’t until I heard you that I knew I was wrong.”

It seems almost too easy, but Dimitri smiles, open and fond and genuine almost to a fault. “We’re just one big mess, huh?”

Felix looks away and sniffs, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Once he finally stands up from his chair, Dimitri pulls him into a hug so warm and welcome that it’s a wonder it took them this long to achieve it.

Sylvain starts clapping from his chair nearby. Felix feels his cheeks burn hot at the attention, at the fact that _everyone_ had borne witness to their messy reunion. Ingrid chides Sylvain, next to Mercedes and Annette who wipe tears of their own from their cheeks.

“You really are,” Sylvain comments, earning another look and another smack on the shoulder from Ingrid.

Felix feels an instinctive urge to snark back, something dismissive or rude, but it dies when he looks up at Dimitri.

Dimitri, who is still smiling, with almost too much softness in his eyes.

Dimitri, who Felix loves, who Felix never stopped loving despite how hard he tried.

Felix breaks the silence with the faintest hint of a smile in return. “Are we just going to stand around crying? I thought we were here to practice?”

Dimitri bends down and picks up Felix’s bass, propped against the wall and waiting for use. He extends it towards him.

“I’ll follow your lead.”

**Author's Note:**

> they're so emotionally constipated. love that
> 
> i'm on twitter [@shoutzwastaken](http://twitter.com/shoutzwastaken) if you'd like to come chill and hang!


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